"Your Majesty!"
"And there's another piece of incredible news!"
Dr. Buck nearly shoved the data pad into Abyss's face, trembling with excitement.
"What's all this fuss? Calm down."
Abyss sipped his tea—and almost choked.
"I can't calm down, Your Majesty!"
"Lord Lantern! It… it grew!"
Abyss blinked. "Grew? Grew what?"
"It grew taller! In size!"
Buck's hands shook as he pointed to the screen. "The data we had was from ten years ago. Since then, Lord Lantern has grown a full 1,000 meters! Its total length now surpasses 10,000 meters!"
Pfft—
Abyss spat his tea across the table. "How much?! A thousand meters?! Over ten thousand in length?!"
He leapt to his feet, eyes bulging in shock.
It had to be understood—Lord Lantern was the vessel of the Pure Golden Light. By all logic, it should have been frozen in time, immortal, incapable of growth.
How was this possible?
"It's absolutely true!" Buck insisted, jabbing at the data. "Its length has increased from nine thousand to ten thousand meters, and the space inside its three stomachs has expanded by seven percent!"
"Holy crap…"
Abyss's mind reeled.
Didn't the Pure Golden Light suspend all life activity? How could this creature develop despite suppression?
It was nothing short of defying the heavens.
"What's the cause?! Have you found it?!"
He seized Buck's shoulders with desperate excitement. If they could replicate the cause—force Lord Lantern to grow at will—the Eternal Kingdom's territory could expand endlessly, like an inflating balloon.
"We… we found it!" Buck was nearly dizzy from being shaken. "It's the probiotics!"
"What? Those tiny things?"
"Yes! Them!"
Buck projected a microscopic image. "The bacterial colonies they secrete carry an extremely faint 'Shi-Shi no Mi (Livestock-Livestock Fruit)' birth effect!"
His spit flew as he ranted: "On their own, the effect is almost negligible—but in vast numbers, it stacks! Over the past decade we've introduced tens of thousands of probiotic strains. Quantity triggered a qualitative shift!"
"They accelerated Lord Lantern's metabolism—made it hungrier, eat more often, absorb more nutrients!"
"At this rate, even under the suppression of the Pure Golden Light, it forcefully grew a full 1,000 meters!"
Abyss's heart thundered. His shock gave way to euphoria.
"Good! Excellent! This is sustainable expansion!"
He could already envision it—Lord Lantern growing larger than Zunesha , his kingdom rivaling even Zou.
"Listen well!"
He raised his voice, issuing a command. "From this moment, aiding Lord Lantern's growth shall be the highest national policy of the Eternal Kingdom! Cultivate probiotics endlessly! Feed them to it relentlessly! I want Lord Lantern to grow ten thousand meters more—no, a hundred thousand!"
He already saw himself ruling a vast kingdom inside a stomach.
But then—
Dr. Buck's excitement dimmed, replaced by a troubled frown. He stammered, "Your… Your Majesty… there is also… bad news."
"Speak!"
Abyss waved impatiently. After all, compared to the expansion of their world, what bad news could matter?
"It's just that…"
"Because the probiotics are too effective, Lord Lantern's digestive ability has become… excessively strong."
Buck hunched his shoulders as he pulled up another projection.
(Of course, the images came from monitoring Den Den Mushi satellites.)
"These are the outlines of the three islands ten years ago."
"And this… is now."
The two maps overlaid—
—and the truth was undeniable. The edges of every island had been gnawed away by gastric acid.
"In the last ten years, the island in Stomach No. 3 has shrunk by 20%."
"Stomach No. 2 decreased by 15%."
"Even the outermost main island in Stomach No. 1… has lost 10% of its area."
The smile froze on Abyss's face.
This was not just bad news—it was catastrophic.
Buck's voice dropped to a fearful whisper: "At this rate… within twenty years, the island in Stomach No. 3 will be completely digested, nothing left."
"And within a hundred years, the islands in Stomachs No. 1 and 2 will also vanish."
"By then, the stomach will contain nothing but corrosive gastric acid. We will have nowhere to stand."
Silence fell like a death knell.
The ecstasy of moments ago evaporated, doused by an ocean of ice water.
Yes—they had gained immortality. But their immortal home was dissolving beneath their feet.
What was the point of eternal life, if it only ended in annihilation?
Abyss felt a crushing weight descend, as if gastric acid itself were rising to engulf him. This was the greatest crisis since the founding of the Eternal Kingdom.
"Is there a solution?" Abyss demanded, brow furrowed.
"Yes…" Buck admitted. "Completely eliminate all probiotics, and balance will be restored."
He sighed, glancing at his ruler. Just moments ago, probiotics had been declared the very foundation of national policy.
"That won't do!" Abyss thundered. "Without probiotics, Lord Lantern has no future—and without Lord Lantern's future, neither do we! Even if all three islands are digested, probiotics must be released!"
He refused without hesitation. Even if they drowned in gastric acid—probiotics could not be abandoned.
"Summon the leadership. All of them!"
Soon, all leaders from Stomach No. 1 and No. 2 assembled. Abyss relayed the grim truth—and chaos erupted.
"Your Majesty, eliminate the probiotics at once!"
"No! We can drill into the stomach walls, build caverns to live inside Lord Lantern's body!"
"Or construct sky-castles, suspended from the stomach walls!"
The scientists argued passionately, while the ministers exchanged desperate glances.
Abyss silenced them with a single raised hand.
"No. The resources inside this world are limited. They cannot support projects of that scale."
His eyes gleamed coldly, his voice carrying a heavy, resonant authority.
"But I already have a solution."
"Lord Lantern will swallow new islands."
Gasps swept the chamber.
"When the island in Stomach No. 3 is fully digested, the island in Stomach No. 2 will descend to take its place. Stomach No. 1's island will shift into Stomach No. 2. And the empty Stomach No. 1—
—shall be replenished with fresh islands."
He spread his arms, voice booming: "In this way, even if Stomach No. 3 is always consumed, Stomach No. 1 will never be empty. Our cycle will continue forever!"
The Eternal Kingdom would survive—but only as a nomadic civilization, forever moving their lives from one stomach to the next.
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